The Hermès Festival des Métiers Exhibition and Dinner

From the handsome valets dressed in crisp white Nehru collars greeting guests with umbrellas at the curb to the Raúl Ávila–designed Hermès leather Casablanca lilies adorning the center of the dinner tables, no opportunity for detail or elegance was left unturned at Hermès’ Festival des Métiers exhibition and dinner. The event was held at the Christian Science Church–cum–event space at 583 Park Avenue. The double-height hall had been transformed for a different kind of religious reverence—that of those who worship at the altar of Hermès and the artisans responsible for creating the luxury brand’s storied products.

Ten master artisans flew over from the ateliers in Paris—bringing their equipment and tools with them bien sur—and set up demonstrations for delighted guests who perused the stations: silk-scarf printing, the diamonds of the iconic collier de chien being paved before your eyes, a saddlemaker stretching leather. Dr. Lisa Airan, who attended with her husband, Dr. Trevor Born, answered quickly when asked which exhibit she preferred. “I liked the scarves, the printmaking. I never knew it could take so long to make a scarf!” Designer Phillip Lim, who came straight from his studio and would return promptly after dinner to continue working on his upcoming spring 2013 show, was most impressed by the Louis Crystal painter. “I always thought that a stencil was used in handpainting, but this is freehand; it’s like calligraphy, like writing a love letter across the top of the glass.”

Not that the artisans were the only ones handling Hermès during the evening, many of the guests, including Aerin Lauder, Julie Macklowe, Allison Sarofim, Lauren duPont, Marina Rust, Aby Rosen, Anh Duong, _Vogue’_s Virginia Smith, and _Teen Vogue’_s Amy Astley, were seen clutching their own Hermès accessories. Macklowe’s rain-gray crocodile Birkin looked particularly spectacular with her backless fire-engine red Tom Ford dress.

At the sound of trumpets from the balcony above, guests and their Kellys took the cue to move downstairs for dinner where they were greeted by Hermès CEO Bob Chavez, who thanked the crowd for coming out on a rainy evening. Of the exhibit, which will be on view in New York until September 9 and then travel to San Francisco and Houston, Chavez said, “In a city that moves so fast, what better way to really admire all of our wonderful craftsmen who are here from Paris?” Everyone nodded before diving into their white wine and truffled cauliflower soup at a New Yorker’s pace.

The end of the evening held a slew of surprises. After plates of Chilean sea bass had been cleared away, Dr. Draw, a Canadian electronic-music maestro, descended the stairs with his electric guitar and serenaded the group. Soon after dessert was served, waiters wielded a canteloupe-size sphere of chocolate (two per table) which was presented with a Lucite mallet and instructions on how to crack the shell, harkening back to the tool theme. Cries of excitement erupted from every table as each elected hammerer smashed the hollow shell to reveal a core of white, dark, and milk chocolate truffles.

“Are you leaving?” an attendant asked Harley Viera-Newton as guests filtered out through the lobby after dinner. The woman held a small Hermès gift bag in her outstretched hand. Viera-Newton, in monogrammed Stella McCartney and an H necklace, nodded before accepting the gift bag with a coy smile: “I love an orange bag.”